Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thrilling and absorbing., well-written and believable. Set in Victorian London. The setting and plot are fabulous. A recommended read.

No one can break your heart quite like this. · Read and be transported to another time, literally you feel you are there, the sounds, smells, and people are all very interesting and this book was just wonderful to read! Highly recommend this one and if you love Historical you will adore this book!

Absolutely loved this literary thriller by Rose Tremain. Set in Victorian times, Lily is an abandoned baby who is fostered until she is six and lives a life of cruelty and abuse. Is it nature or nurture that causes someone to commit a crime? The novel evokes Victorian London brilliantly.

Rose Tremain rarely disappoints, but this her latest novel didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It’s the story of Lily Mortimer who is abandoned as a baby and taken in by the Foundling Hospital in London. After 6 happy years with a foster family she is returned to the hospital for training, where, predictably, she is cruelly treated. She manages to survive and sets out to forge some sort of life for herself, though never forgives her earlier ill treatment. The book is obvious well researched and Tremain can’t write badly if she tries, but I felt that she descends too far into sentimentality here. It’s an emotional read, for sure, and indeed I was moved on occasion by the harshness with which Lily is treated, but perhaps the cruelty is taken just one step too far. Cruel nurses are one thing, but to make one of them particularly perverted gives it all an unnecessary gothic twist. Although the narrative is well plotted overall, there are some extraneous episodes which felt like padding – a trip, for example, to Kensal Green cemetery that leads nowhere, a plot line that simply fizzles out. So it’s a good entertaining historical read, but not a subtle or nuanced one, with a predictable ending, and not quite up to Tremain’s usual standard.

In 'Lily', Rose Tremain tells the story of a young girl, who is multiply rescued and forsaken in childhood. She decides to take matters into her own hands, and in an act of revenge commits murder. This act doesn't release her, but instead prevents her from accepting the support and care from people around her. This is because to herself she has proven she is 'bad', and should be forsaken.

For me the cover art and title of this novel, suggests it will be a romp set in Victorian England, with a strong and vengeful protagonist. Instead this novel felt like a dower portrait of the times, that lingered over Lily's losses. For those who like Dickensesque orphanage grimness, this will be the novel for you. But for me, I found for a short novel it lacked pace and was just a very sad picture of someone treated badly by those around her.

This is an engrossing piece of historical fiction that really packs an emotional punch. A fantastic story full of Victorian imagery to get lost in on darker evenings.

Lily by Rose Tremain I found to have an excellent plot, with some great twists and shocks. The character of Lily is fascinating, how she reacts and feels about her life, and her interactions with the other characters depending on how they have treated her is very interesting and deep.
However, I found the pacing to be very slow, it took a long time to get answers which was a bit frustrating. It skipped around in the timeline with no clear definition, it could change mid-page or mid-chapter which was confusing.
The end I felt was too ambiguous, once we finally had our answers there was no sense of closure or ending which again frustrated me.
An ok read, perhaps a grab on the train to fill the time rather than a 'must read'.
Thank you to the Publishers and Netgalley for the e-arc to review.

Overall it's a good story but there a couple of points where I think it falls down. I was lucky enough to be reading an advance copy, but the formatting on my kindle frequently had one section ending and another, set in a completely different time period, starting on the same line-very confusing. Lily and Bridget come across as unnaturally mature, not particularly credible, I felt.

I didn’t really like this book, I found it plodding and slow. Very dark. Unfortunately I didn’t like the fact that this book didn’t have any chapters which put me off and I gave up on this one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was an emotional book, a bit on the “heavy” side so it’s definitely not a happy read. I found it to be ok but this is down to personal preference as it’s not what I normally go for. Only recommend for fans of historical fiction.

I haven’t read Rose Tremain for 8 years since I discovered her via her 1989 publication “Restoration”. I absolutely loved it and it ended up in my Top 3 books for 2013. For some reason I’ve not got round to her novel from a decade later “Music & Silence” which I have had on my shelves for some years. On reading the description of this, her latest and 16th novel, I felt it was time to revisit her as an author.
Nineteenth century settings are always going to win me over. We start with an abandoned baby in an East London park at night and wolves who chew off her toe. She is rescued by a Police Constable and taken to the London Foundling Hospital. This is the story of the first 17 years of Lily’s life.
Subtitled “A Tale Of Revenge” we know from early on that guilt hangs over the young girl. She sees herself as a murderer but we don’t know who or why. The story is told in a third person narrative from her past and her present as a 17 year old employed as a wigmaker. Some of these switches are a little abrupt I felt which tended to jar rather than build up the suspense as intended.
I was totally captivated by Lily’s story. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style, use of language and ability to bring Lily’s world to life with some great characterisation. It did, however, feel a slighter more understated work than I was expecting, plot-wise it hovers towards the sentimental and predictable and I felt disappointed that some plot-lines fizzled out. Since finishing the book I read an interview with Rose Tremain in The Daily Telegraph Review section (30/10/21) where it is described as a recovery novel following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis which has led to her not being able to retain as much historical research as she has in the past which might explain the route she decided to take with this book. She also says an initial inspiration came from hallucinations from drugs she was taking or anti-nausea which conjured up Victorian type children asking her for help.
I relished the writing and story-telling here. It’s not going to end up in my end of year Top 10 like “Restoration” but I was certainly rooting for Lily throughout.
Lily is published by Chatto & Windus in the UK on 4th November 2021. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Nobody knows yet that she is a murderer...

It was a cold winter night in 1850 when Baby Lily Mortimer’s life was saved when she was found in London’s Victoria Park and brought to the Foundling Hospital. She was rescued by Sam Trench, a local Bobby, although, it’s quite a stretch to say her life was saved, as her life turned out not to be an easy one. Well, the first six years she was fostered by a lovely farming family who took her to live with them in rural Suffolk. It was there where she spent happy days helping out on the farm whilst being nurtured and loved. Unfortunately, the law states that Foundlings must return to the hospital when they reach six years old and this is when Lily’s life is turned upside down. Lily endures years of being punished for her rebellious lively spirit and when she comes of age to leave the hospital, she finds herself being taken under the wing of Belle Prettywood at her Wig Emporium. However, Lily has a secret eating her up inside, a secret she knows she is eventually going to spill.

I loved this book as I submerged myself fully and devoured it within in a couple of sittings. Switching between 6- & 7-year-old Lily and 17-year-old Lily, her story unfolds between the two timelines revealing the horrors she has endured at the Foundling Hospital. Horrors made my blood boil and my stomach churn. I was rooting for her throughout the book, as she tries to make her way through life whilst holding onto her secret. A secret I do not condemn her for.

It’s not a long book as it’s under 300 pages but it was perfectly paced although, I would have been happy to have read more about her adventures with Belle Prettywood. Belle was left as a bit of an enigma and I would have liked to have learnt more about her and how she came to owning a Wig Emporium.

If you love Historical fiction, then I highly recommend reading Lily’s story!

Rose Tremain writes with a Dickensian voice of this tale linked to the Foundling Hospital. An orphan abandoned at London Park gates is rescued by a kind young policeman who will later feature as a growing love for young Lily as she is called by those in authority at the cruel hospital.
I had recently read Stacey Hall's 'The Foundling' but although the theme is parallel the treatment of lives is different. Tremain has a deep skill in bringing the tragedy to such a pitch that you almost lose hope in the future for the main character - and goodness Lily suffers so much. But in the end it is not a happy ending but a moral and justified conclusion - of which Dickens would have been proud.
The evoked world of particularly Belle Prettywood's Wig Emporium and the dealings with the opera are wonderfully described and the struggles of women with practical skills fighting for survival in the world where men's power dominates their day to day existence.
There is revenge and friendship amidst the classic orphan tale which evokes young Jane Eyre perhaps and although the end does not see Lily in love it sees a tale that builds to a more probable outcome and in Lily's decisions to a life she had not dreamt of since her early childhood but which may well finally give her peace.
Great story.

In Rose Tremain’s latest historical novel set in 1850 an abandoned baby left in sacking at the entrance to Victoria Park Bethnal Green is rescued by policeman Sam Trench and taken to Thomas Coram’s foundling hospital where she is renamed Lily Mortimer. Spending the first six years of her life at Rookery Farm in Suffolk fostered by Perkin and Nellie Buck before returning to the hospital (it’s the law!!) the narrative slips between the present and the past following Lily now and then in one of the most breathtakingly captivating and exquisitely spun pieces of storytelling I’ve read in a long time.

Everything about this novel deserves the highest praise. I loved the contrast in settings between the rural idyll of Suffolk to the prison like confines of the foundling hospital and I thought the characterisation throughout the novel was fabulous. I’ve read other historical fiction featuring this charitable institution so I was immediately drawn to the novel intrigued to discover how the author would put her own twist on the subject matter. I could not find fault with this sorrowful yet mesmerising tale. The author deftly and effortlessly drew me into Lily’s life story with an image of this young woman, aged 17 repenting her sins, calmly awaiting her punishment for the terrible crime she’s recently committed. Except the reader has to earn the privilege of ‘hearing’ Lily’s confession and the exact nature of her crime by ‘listening’ to accounts of her life in the countryside, her years spent inside the foundling hospital and then her employment at Belle Prettywood’s Wig Emporium.

Rose Tremain takes you back to an era where life was incredibly harsh and unforgiving. Every step of the way the author treats you to a taste of Victorian life creating an atmosphere so vivid you can almost smell the stench of poverty, visualise the fog and filth of the London streets, home to the villains and the vagabonds and feel the abject misery of Lily and fellow orphan Bridget, subjected to all manner of horrors at the hands of the hospital guardians, their only crime to be unwanted and unloved. It is the plight of these foundlings that tugs at your heartstrings, their hopes and dreams for a normal family life shattered into smithereens when they are returned to Coram’s hospital at the tender age of 6, put to work and chastised for every minor misdemeanour, including feeling homesick for their foster families. On so many occasions you want to vent your anger at the inhumane treatment of these children, it’s that appalling and sickening. By today’s standards this so called law feels unnecessarily cruel but this cycle of the offer of hope and then its sudden withdrawal sadly becomes a familiar pattern in Lily’s life. No wonder both Lily and Bridget yearn for their former lives and fantasise about escaping. I was willing them to find a way to break free! Their friendship is one aspect of this novel which is particularly heartwarming and heart wrenching and one of the reasons I loved this novel so much. All the orphans are taught to fear God and you come to understand the way religion shapes Lily into the young woman she is when first introduced to the reader, guilt ridden yet unremorseful and resigned to her fate.

All the characters are superbly crafted. Thomas Coram’s hospital is a character in itself, its gloomy foreboding presence casting a shadow over all those who enter its doors tainting the poor unwanted mites who have nowhere else to call home with shame, forced to feel grateful for the charity afforded them. Some are intriguing such as benefactor Lady Elizabeth Mortimer and the odd Frances Quale. Despite the prevalence of some less than kindly figures who rule with an iron rod there are others who penetrate through the misery and inject some love and kindness, some hopefulness and some colour, however short lived, into our heroine’s days. Perkin and Nellie Buck and their three sons by welcoming baby Lily into their family, providing warmth, comfort, food and love as well as happy memories are obvious examples. Sam Trench and his wife Joyce are another two whose concern for Lily’s welfare over the years becomes both a blessing and a curse. The flamboyant Belle also adds vibrancy, colour and a touch of merriment to an otherwise grim storyline, taking Lily under her wing, offering her a rare glimpse into the grandeur of the theatre world and its glamorous patrons. Belle is quite a refreshing character, a wonderful larger than life figure, business woman and entertainer of many a gentleman caller. She provides a welcome distraction from Lily’s woes. I liked her immensely.

From the beginning Lily’s voice is crying out for an audience and I was more than happy to become an avid listener. She’s a tremendous character, tragic yet stoic,plucky, kind and accepting of the cards life has dealt her but by no means is she downtrodden! She refuses to be beaten into submission or play the part of victim, her indomitable spirit a trait you can only admire but which may well lead towards her downfall. I constantly had to keep reminding myself she’s only 17 because she’s mature and wise beyond her years. For someone whose life has mostly been lived under the guardianship of vile, despicable pious individuals, starved of love and affection and brutally treated, Lily is remarkably compassionate as evidenced by her friendship with fellow orphan Bridget and her loyalty and support towards her employer Belle in her hour of need. I loved her without reservation but it saddened me that underneath her layers of resilience is a vulnerability and a thirst for love that is so often denied or simply untenable. Lily’s efforts to put the past behind her are futile. To achieve some kind of peace it would seem the only course of action is to confront her demons and Lily is nothing if not fearless when it comes to righting previous wrongs.

By no means is this a depressing read. Hope, kindness and love manage to override even the bleakest and most tragic of circumstances so that you are left feeling the end justifies the means. Lily’s story is dramatic, compelling and moving and impossible to put down. There’s even the odd opportunity for a smile to form on your lips mostly thanks to Belle Prettywood. I was blown away by how much I loved this book and can’t understand why I haven’t read more by this author. I can only recall reading the brilliant The Road Home which features another unforgettable protagonist and that’s a very long time ago! I made a great choice with this title. Utterly absorbing and so deserving of 5⭐️. Highly recommend especially if you’re a fan of authors such as Stacey Halls.

My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

A young policeman Sam Trench finds a baby at the gates of a London park in the winter of 1850. He takes her to The London Foundling Hospital, but she is never far from his thoughts. She is named Lily Mortimer, after the Lady who sponsored her. Lily is fostered out to a loving farming family, in Suffolk, where she knows, what it is to be loved. She is treated well and cared for. She gets lots of fresh air and fresh foods to eat.

But at six years old, it is the law that the child is returned to the Foundling Hospital. She is heartbroken to be left there and constantly gets into trouble for being outspoken. Life in the orphanage is cruel as the children are disgracefully punished for simply being children born out of wedlock or to poor families.

The story follows Lily through her time at the hospital and beyond, as it drops back and jumps forward in perfect harmony. From her early years, Lily had been taught skills that would give her a step up in life, nothing is easy but, she has the spirit to do what she wants in life. I liked Lily, who was strong on the outside but seemed like she had a hole in her that would always stay empty.

Lily does not have a lot of friends and only lets people in when she feels a connection. Lily is a fabulous character that I wanted to protect on every page. Sam Trench is never far away from Lily but, she has a secret that could be the end of her. This is a stunning story of love, betrayal and true grit. A heartbreaking historical story, that is unforgettable

I wish to thank the publisher and Net Galley for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

I didnt really enjoy this book. I'm not sure if this is the finished version but having no chapters made the book seem chotic and confusing. The premise sounded so good.

Poor lily, abandoned by her Mother just after her birth, has her toe bitten off by a wolf and almost freezes to death. Things look up for lily when a young policeman finds her and takes her to the Foundling Hospital, her life is saved and she spends six happy years with Nellie and Perkin her foster parents on their farm.
The law states that children have to return to the Hospital to earn their keep.so Nellie reluctantly returns her. Lily suffers at the hand of cruel Nurse Maud and plans an escape with her friend Bridget, this ends badly for them and leads to more cruelty, every escape plan is thwarted.
Eventually Lily becomes an assistant to a Wig maker, she is still haunted by her past and takes retribution into her own hands.
The characters are well written and the novel races along at the beginning, the pace slows later and Lily makes some questionable decisions.

This was an immersive historical novel. Tremain is a skilled author who always evokes a setting or characters with a few skilful. brushstrokes.

It starts with a murder.

Lily is found abandoned by a policeman, Sam Trench, who has to take her to the foundling hospital (against his better judgement) For her first six years she is fostered out to the loving Buck family in rural Suffolk. Although this is not an easy life- picking stones from fields is back breaking work, it's a time in which Lily finds love from Nellie her foster Mum. She feels safe and secure.

Unfortunately she has to return to the Coram Institute and the separation scene is heartbreaking. Not only is the regime unloving but it's cruel and abusive. Lily tries to escape with her freckled friend, Bridget, who reminds her of a thrush. Bridget's character reminds me of Helen Burns, Jane Eyre's childhood friend.

Later we find Lily using her sewing skills living in a sparse rented room working for Belle's Wig Emporium. Here she finds some security. However she is keen to find her biological mother as she tries to discover her identity and encounters Sam Trench again.

This tells the story in a linear way but Tremain doesn't. We find out about the murder early on but need to go back in time several times to find out who it is and why. Also the re-introduction of Sam into the plot has other ramifications.


One of the themes is freedom. In Suffolk LIly hears an apocryphal about a boy trapped at the bottom of a well and who can't breathe. Lily finds the London fog hard to breathe in , there is a caged bird too and an obvious part of the plot (no spoilers) which also links in. However safety is also explored as people who come from an insecure background rarely fell "safe" in the world.

Love is the counterbalance to this, but love in different forms. Parental love, romantic love and friendship (Belle shows Lily some friendship which Lily tries to repay)

I found this novel to be deeply affecting (especially Bridget's part of the story and scenes with Nellie) It was empathetically written. Of course it recalls Dickens in its evocation of Victorian poverty or even Burnett's A Little Princess . The main characters are so well drawn that you can picture how Lily would behave if you were to meet her. I read it quickly as I was so engaged by Lily's character that I was thinking about her between reading sessions and wanted to find out more so would pick the book up again.

Lily knows that she will be hanged for a murder she has committed and this is her story. She was an abandoned baby found by a policeman who takes her to the foundling hospital. Babies are fostered out to families until they are seven. Lily lives on a lovely farm and she is very happy. However when she is returned to the foundling hospital her nightmare begins one nurse calls her miss disobedience and sexually abuses her right up until she can leave. Lily gets a good job and reconnects with the policeman who found her. He loves Lily and she confesses to the murder she committed to protect younger children being abused by this nurse. He gives Lily 24 hours to escape and this she does by going back to the farm when she was happy.
This is a well told story that pulls no punches over Victorian life for the poorest in the land. It is moving and beautifully done and you will want Lily to get away with the murder.

As always Rose Tremain takes the reader off to a time and place through her stunning writing.
Lily is another beautiful read, the strong female protagonist is vivid and alive on the page as we meet her at 17 in 19th century London. Orphaned as a newborn she spent the first six years of her life happy and settled in the rural countryside with a family she loved. By law she had to return to the hospital she was in as a baby and her excellent sewing skills earned her work at a wig emporium. She has a secret which she feels may end up with her at the gallows and plot told through past and present timelines reveal the full story.
Tremain’s writing is beautiful, such vivid characters, settings which leave the reader immersed in the poverty of some living at the time. It is historical fiction at its best. An empathetic and emotional read I loved it.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a gifted copy in return for an honest review.